


Sins Of The Fathers: Expectations

by dragonwrangler



Series: Sins Of The Fathers [1]
Category: Marvel 616, Secret Warriors
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-25
Updated: 2013-08-25
Packaged: 2017-12-24 14:04:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/940844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwrangler/pseuds/dragonwrangler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikel understands what it means to be Nick Fury's son; it doesn't mean he has to do exactly what his father tells him though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sins Of The Fathers: Expectations

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes: Basically the first four pages of Secret Warriors #24. Trying to keep as close to canon compliant as I can but it'll probably stray at some point or another. All mistakes are my own.

**SINS OF THE FATHERS: Expectations**

 

_The sound of a fight_

_Father has spoken_

'Kings and Queens'

30 Seconds to Mars

 

**FIFTEEN MONTHS AGO**

**CHISINAU, MOLDOVA**

The vibration from the phone tucked into the inner pocket of the suit jacket hung over the back of his chair brought a puzzled frown to Mikel's face. The phone should have been set to ring; it was only when he was in a meeting that he put the thing on vibrate. Setting his tea down next to the cheese burek and yogurt he'd been hoping to eat for breakfast before heading over to the embassy for the day, Mikel Fury twisted in his seat and pulled out his phone.

The number that appeared when he turned it on was not a familiar one. Playing back the voice message, he heard a woman telling him in Italian to turn on CNN. Automatically erasing the message, he left his breakfast sitting on the kitchen table and headed for his home office. It wasn’t until he was opening the door and flipping the light on that he realized the caller was Natasha Romanoff—he'd never heard the Widow speaking Italian before.

In his office Mikel switched the flat screen on the wall over to CNN, picking up the same satellite broadcast as the US Embassy a few blocks away. The ticker tape bar running across the bottom announced there had been an explosion in New York's harbor area; the information bouncing back and forth between damage estimates and guesses as to what had caused the explosion. Mikel turned the volume up and settled down at his desk.

The worn leather chair creaked as he leaned back to watch the top of the hour recap. Doing a quick bit of math in his head, Mikel realized that whatever had happened had occurred around 1 am New York time. It did not explain why the Widow had called him. There was nothing on CNN about S.H.I.E.L.D. being involved in the incident and if his father had been killed other avenues—and someone other than the Widow— would have been used to contact him.

Leaning forward, Mikel absently pushed a pile of paperwork aside and glanced over to his computer screen. He then rubbed his face and muttered a few swear words under his breath as the date at the bottom of the screen registered.

Exactly one year ago he had been in New York meeting with the Carpasian ambassador to the U.N. to discuss the post he now held. During that meeting his phone had buzzed and a quick check showed someone had accessed the hidden base in Crnilobara his father had built decades earlier at the height of the Cold War when Carpasia had still been part of Yugoslavia.

The alert had been triggered three hours after an earthquake had hit the capital of Latveria. When he had checked out the base a month later, after meeting with the President of Carpasia and accepting the posting to Moldova, there had been nothing to find as to who had used the base or why.

He had a suspicion he was beginning to figure out the who part of that question.

_What are you up to, dad?_

After doing a quick search online to see if he could find out anything more about what had happened in New York, Mikel picked up the desk phone and called his secretary.

"Ambassador Fury's office."

"Dragana? It's Mikel. I need you to clear my schedule for today." He scowled at the television but kept the irritation he was feeling out of his voice. He may have had nothing to do with whatever plans his father had put into motion but that didn't mean someone wouldn't be by to grill him about it. "I expect S.H.I.E.L.D. will be calling soon."

"Ah," Dragana said. "Then would I be correct in assuming the President has already contacted you regarding the arrest warrant for your father that was making the rounds at the U.N. this morning?"

Mikel closed his eyes and pressed two fingers against the bridge of his nose. Great. "No, he hasn't," he said, "but I'm sure he will be. Who issued the warrant?"

There was a rustle of paper. "The United States. I got the impression we weren't meant to see it just yet. I'll send a copy your way."

There was a few seconds of silence then a beep from his inbox as Dragana added, "When S.H.I.E.L.D. does call would you like me to schedule the meeting here in your office or somewhere else?"

"I'm sure they'll let you know where the interview is going to happen. Thank you, Dragana." He hung up the phone. As he opened his inbox he wondered how long it would take S.H.I.E.L.D. to get around to him.

 

**37 HOURS LATER**

 

Maria Hill, acting Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. now that the former Director had gone rogue, was not in the best of moods as she exited the S.H.I.E.L.D. jet that had brought her to Moldova. Trailed by two Psi agents, Maria walked quickly over to the vehicle that was waiting to take them to the Carpasia Embassy in Moldova’s capital city, Chisinau. The debriefing with agent Daisy Johnson five hours ago over regarding Fury and the shit storm that had gone down in the harbor had stirred up a hornet's nest within S.H.I.E.L.D. and, by extension the U.N. Security Council, and flying a quarter of the way around the world to interview Fury's nephew was the last thing Maria felt she needed to be doing right now. She had a hell of a mess to clean up; they should have brought Mikel Fury to her in New York, not the other way around.

As she dropped into the back seat of the limo, an aide sitting in the seat across from her handed over Ambassador Fury's file, preloaded into a tablet. A few swipes of her hand brought up the man's birth certificate—born in Carpasia thirty-one years ago to Amber D'Alexis and Jacob Fury, both deceased; educational history—privately tutored before receiving a degree in International Relations at Princeton; and a financial report that raised Maria's eyebrows.

"Is this amount correct?" she asked, turning the tablet around. The aide leaned forward to check what she was pointing at then settled back as he nodded his head.

'Yes."

"Why are there two accounts listed?"

"Ambassador Fury's grandfather, Gjivo, was the last King of Carpasia through the Petar line. When the Axis army invaded the country back in '41, Gjivo moved a good portion of the treasury out of the Axis's reach before he and his family fled the country. That's the first account. The Ambassador's mother seems to have made a few good investments off some of that money when she got her hands on it and ended up with quite a portfolio. That's the second account. When she died in a plane crash in Atlanta about seven years ago, he inherited all of it. As far as we can tell, he hasn't touched any of what's left in the original account and only draws off the second one."

"You're telling me he's royalty?"

"Carpasia's a democracy now so no but it was probably one of the reasons he was picked to fill the office of the president to get the country back on track following that civil war Hydra started when they assassinated Carpasia's first democratically elected president."

"Says here he quit after a year."

"Well, resigned would be the correct word—after taking down three of his ministers for running a black market."

"That must have gone over well."

"Doesn't seem to have hurt him any."

Maria shook her head. "So; does someone want to explain to me why we're interviewing Fury's nephew about what happened yesterday?"

"Mikel's his son, not nephew, Director," Margaret Keane, the PSI agent sitting to her left, said.

"Not according to his birth certificate here. Why do you think he's Fury's son?"

"That's how the Colonel referred to him back when the Ambassador was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."

"When he was a _what_?" Maria quickly scrolled back to Mikel Fury's employment history. It was less than a quarter of a page long and only covered his political career. "There's no record of him working for S.H.I.E.L.D. in here," she said as she opened a secure connection to the S.H.I.E.L.D. database to download Director Fury's file. In it there was no mention of the Director and the Ambassador even being related. There was however a notation regarding a son by the name Jacob Fury II in the Colonel's file who was listed as deceased.

 _What the hell?_ "When was this?"

Keane shrugged. "Around six years ago? Back when the Punisher supposedly killed Fury. He left S.H.I.E.L.D. a couple of months after that when Castle was cleared of the charges."

Maria set the tablet on her lap and looked out the window. She could just see a building rising up like a triangular wall over the trees ahead of them.

She shifted her gaze to the man sitting across from her. "Why exactly am I here?" she asked.

"Because the Carpasian embassy called to arrange—"

"Not us?"

"Um, no; not us."

"Which is why I'm here in the middle of nowhere instead of you bringing the Ambassador to me on the Helicarrier? Have I got that right?"

"Yes?" The man shifted uneasily in his seat.

Maria bit back a curse and focused on the file for a moment before giving Keane a look.

"Anything else you want to tell me?"

"Beyond the Ambassador being appointed temporary Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. back when the Punisher was hunting the Colonel? Nothing I can think of."

"Just what I wanted to hear," Maria muttered as she typed in a request for a copy of whatever files the Carpasian government might have on their Ambassador then shot off a note to the records department telling them they needed to investigate Colonel Fury's file for tampering. She was sure it was going to be a wasted effort—especially if Fury was the one who had altered the files in the first place—but it had to be done.

When they reached the embassy, an ornately carved building that was clearly older than the prefab apartment building rising up behind it, Maria activated the tablet's recording program and handed it to agent Keane to carry.

In the Ambassador's outer office, Fury's secretary nodded her head and, without a word, walked over to the door and held it open for them.

Marching past her, Maria said, "Mikel Fury?" to the man stepping around the desk to meet them.

Mikel Fury was a few inches taller than she was and though there was a bit of a resemblance to Fury, those looks could have just as easily come from the brother. "You really didn't mean to ask that as a question, did you?" the man said as he approached.

The voice was also different enough that it could have been a closer match to Jacob Fury than the Colonel's but the mild amusement in the man’s voice as he asked his question reminded Maria enough of Nick Fury that she had to resist the urge to grit her teeth. After running a quick three count in her head she managed to state evenly, "Ambassador." She then couldn't help but add sarcastically, "Didn't mean to keep you waiting."

"I have to admit, I'm surprised it took you this long to get around to me; it was becoming difficult to keep my schedule open. Would you like to conduct your interview here, or would you prefer somewhere you consider a little more intimidating?"

 _You're going to be worse than Johnson, aren't you? Wonderful._ "I'd prefer to avoid any publicity, if it’s all the same to you, Ambassador."

"You really think the international press hangs out in Moldova waiting for the next big story to break?" Mikel gestured over to a group of chairs and a low coffee table set up in one corner of his office.

"I'd rather not find out." Without introducing the two agents with her, Maria took a chair and, after retrieving the tablet from Keane, set it on the table and leaned back. Mikel sat down across from her without bothering to look at the tablet.

After waiting until agent Fitzpatrick took up a position behind and a little to the ambassador's right, she asked, "Since you obviously have an idea as to why we're here, let's just get right to the point: When was the last time you had contact with your father?" She noted there was no reaction from the Ambassador at having an agent standing behind him as she asked her question. Usually a subject would look around to see exactly where they were or start shifting uncomfortably but Mikel appeared unconcerned. If he had served in S.H.I.E.L.D., he'd already know why Fitzpatrick was there.

"It wasn't long after Agent 13 discovered dad wasn't as dead as we thought he was," Mikel answered her without hesitation. There was a minute nod from Fitzpatrick; as far as the Psi agent could tell, the answer was true.

_So you are Fury's son. Damn it._

Pulling up a file on the tablet and checking the dates she asked, "So that was what, a little over three years ago then?"

"Yes."

"What did you two discuss?"

"We didn't discuss anything. I found him waiting for me in the apartment I'd rented while I was at Princeton. No warning; just him sitting there on the couch like nothing had happened. He said he was there to see how I was doing.

"Me? I didn't have a hell of a lot to say to him outside of get the hell out."

"Your father just came back from the dead and that's all you had to say?"

"It was either that or throw a punch at him. Since I had exams the next morning I figured telling him to take off was the better of the two options."

"And you haven't had any contact with him since then? I find that hard to believe."

"Believe what you wish. And even if I am lying, I doubt agent Keane would be able to tell the difference unless her abilities have improved drastically since I left S.H.I.E.L.D.. Mind you, the agent behind me here might since I'm not familiar with the extent of his abilities but I'm guessing even he'd have trouble reading me."

She scowled at the man sitting across from her. Fitzpatrick shifted as if wanting to take the man up on the challenge but Maria shook her head. At least Mikel didn't have the same smug look Johnson had when she'd brought up the subject of the Psi agents during her interview. "Their abilities?" she asked, just to be sure they were talking about the same thing.

Instead of being intimidated by her scowl, Mikel stretched his legs and crossed them at the ankles as he nodded his head at Keane. "I made it a point to memorize the files of every agent on the Helicarrier when I went on my little campaign to take Frank Castle down after we got word he'd survived his execution." Mikel then gestured over his shoulder. "As for him; your gaze keeps shifting over to where he's standing instead of staying on me. If he had been here just for your protection, you wouldn't be looking at him."

Maria pressed her lips together for a second then asked, "Your campaign?"

"Yes. I used S.H.I.E.L.D. to set Castle up so I could legally kill him. General Bridges stopped me before I could pull the trigger."

Maria blinked. It took her a moment to process the full ramification of that answer and when she did, she shouted, "You did _what_?"

Mikel's eyes narrowed. "Let me guess, that's not in my file? Guess that shouldn't be a surprise though I had nothing to do with that. If the higher ups haven't kicked Dugan or the Contessa out, ask them about it. They were the one's who kicked the problem I posed up to Bridges to deal with." He nodded his head at Keane again. "Or you can ask her—I'm sure she remembers all the rumors that were flying around the Helicarrier regarding what went down that day."

Taking a moment to collect herself, Maria took a deep breath, slowly let it out then asked sharply, "Why are you here?"

"Here in Moldova, or here in this part of the world?" He shrugged. "Ambassador Adžić was forced to step down due to a family crisis and suggested that I take his place. Carpasia is a gateway point for workers from Moldova heading to Italy looking for work. That generates quite a lot of business and legal paperwork for us so it was a position the president wanted filled as soon as possible."

Maria leaned forward. "You really expect me to believe that?"

Ambassador Fury shrugged. "Believe what you want. Considering I wasn't even in this part of the world until two months after the incident at Doomstadt occurred, having me here to do a bit of spying for my father would be the equivalent of closing the barn doors after the horses got out."

She stabbed a finger at Mikel, her voice rising. "And yet you knew that was connected to—"

"An earthquake located in Doomstadt that only destroys the castle and not the rest of the city; an attack on New York exactly one year later; and an international arrest warrant being issued for my father? It wasn't hard to connect the dots. And yes—I've already seen the warrant proposal that was being passed around the U.N."

"And what do you intend to do when that warrant is finalized and your father makes contact with you? Hand him over to us?"

"You'll have to discuss that with my President."

Maria narrowed her eyes. "You agree with what your father did in Doomstadt, don't you?"

"As Ambassador I'd have to say no. It was a clear violation of international laws and an overt terrorist attack on a sovereign nation. Off the record though, yes I agree with what he did."

Mikel tilted his head and suddenly asked, "Do you know why you've been picked to take dad's place as head of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" He made a dismissive gesture before she could protest the apparent change in subject. "Not hard to guess really if you think about it. Anyone who knows the politics surrounding S.H.I.E.L.D. could figure it out. You were picked because you're not part of dad's inner circle and have proven by your actions that you'll probably go along with the wishes of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s largest backer. Or at least that's what your S.H.I.E.L.D. records indicate."

Maria tried to keep any reactions from showing on her face but she was still pissed by the accuracy of his guess. It was the same conclusion she'd come to once she'd grabbed a few moments to think about it. "You've seen my records?"

"No. I don't need to." A quick look at Fitzpatrick showed the Ambassador was not lying on that account either as far as he could tell. Maria focused back on Mikel and thought that, for a second, he looked tired.

"I ran Carpasia for a year," he said, "I wasn't the right person for the job—it was too much of a mess for someone as inexperienced as me to fix no matter how much zeal I had going in—but I did learn quite a bit about how things work. Right and wrong tends to be subjective at that level.

"That's the first thing you need to remember, Director."

"I'm not Director—"

"Acting Director then; it's still the same thing. You now have my father's job and it's your duty to follow the orders of the U.N. Security Council. That's the second thing you need to remember. You work for the Security Council. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for you since it landed you your current position, the United States tends to conveniently forget that little fact more often than not."

"Your father broke the law—"

"Do you know why?" Mikel stood up and walked over to his desk where he picked up a manila file. After handing it to her, he said, "Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia are all that separates us from Latveria. To put it into terms you'll understand, that's basically the distance between Washington D.C. and Boston. Considering how much the borders have shifted in the region over the last few decades, you can't blame any of us for being a little paranoid regarding our neighbor's intentions—especially Latveria's.

"In terms of military force, Carpasia only has a volunteer army—we don't have the finances to support anything more than that right now. The only advantage we have is the fact that, though we're the smallest, we're probably the best equipped army in the region. Hydra left a considerable amount of hardware behind when we routed them out of the country.

"Latveria is occasionally in the same situation we were after Hydra pulled out. Whenever Doom's not in charge, there's a hell of a lot of high tech equipment just lying around for the taking. Unfortunately it's not the civilian population that gets their hands on it.

"Dr. Richards was able to dismantle most of the dangerous tech sitting around there the last time Doom disappeared but he was unable to clear out or destroy all the physical pieces that remained before von Bardas became Prime Minister. Those leftovers started moving through the black markets in this region about three months after she started running the country. My guess is that a majority of it was being moved west. Why?" He gestured towards the file in her hands "We have no idea—we weren't able to find that out. I'm guessing dad did however and got blocked when he put in a request to deal with the problem. After the earthquake last year, the movement of that tech dropped down to the levels they were before von Bardas started running things."

Maria dropped the file on the tablet and handed them both to Keane as she stood up. She looked Mikel in the eyes and asked in an overly polite voice, "And is there a third thing you'd like me to remember, _Ambassador_?"

"Since you ask; yes, there is. You may be the boss now but you're still basically a soldier following orders and you're going to have to live with the consequences of being in that position. Knowing the why of an order and what's motivating the person giving you that order will determine whether or not you ever get a good night's sleep again."

"And do you ever get a good night's sleep Ambassador?"

"In the last seven years? No; can't say that I have, Director."

As the limo pulled away, Maria pulled up the audio and found nothing had been recorded. She swore softly for not checking first for any active countermeasures within the Embassy then looked at her two Psi agents.

"Well?"

Keane and Fitzpatrick glanced at one another then Keane said, "Everything he said he believed to be true."

"He also knew from the beginning I was listening in on his thoughts," Fitzpatrick said. "The Ambassador mostly remained on subject and mentally didn't stray any during the interview—or after for that matter."

"Is that unusual?"

"Yes and no," Keane offered. "If the person being interviewed is trying to deceive then there's a good possibility a portion of their thoughts will dwell on how their answers are being received and how they need to adjust them to get a better reaction. Even if their thoughts don't stray though, there should be physical clues as to whether or not they were tailoring their answers to get a certain response. However, since we're talking about a career politician and someone who knew what we are on top of that, those clues would have been easy enough for him to suppress. All we were getting was what he was letting us get."

"The only time there was a slip in his mental barriers was when you yelled at him after he mentioned going after Castle," Fitzpatrick said.

"In what way?"

"There was surprise and annoyance. I specifically heard the thought 'well thanks again, dad' from him."

Keane nodded her head. "I heard that too."

"You sure he wasn't letting you hear that?"

"As sure as we can be," Keane answered for them both. "As soon as he realized we'd be able to catch that, he shut back down."

"What about when he first mentioned Castle? What was he thinking then?"

Keane shrugged. "There didn't seem to be any remorse or guilt associated with that discussion; though considering we all thought the Punisher had killed the Director back then, it wasn't as if any of us serving on the Helicarrier at the time would have felt any remorse at putting a bullet in Castle's head either."

"Mind telling me why you didn't bother to mention that little incident before we went in?"

"All I knew were the rumors, Director, not the facts regarding that event."

"Fine." She looked across at the aide. "Get a team in here—I want that man watched at all times. If the Colonel happens to drop in for another little heart to heart with his son, I want both their asses hauled in—to hell with what the press or the Carpasian government have to say on the matter."

He nodded his head and pulled out his phone. "Yes, Director."

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Some dialog belongs to Jonathan Hickman and Marvel Comics. Most of the characters also belong to Marvel. This fic was written for entertainment purposes only and no profit is being made from this fic.


End file.
